Come join us at Teance Tea Shop in Berkeley, Tuesday evening, April 20th, 2010 at 7:30 PM for the next Tea & Dharma evening. Our topic will be Joyful Simplicity Part 2. We will talk about how hard times outside (remember the Depression mantra: "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without") can lead to great satisfaction and peace of mind within. Rev. Heng Sure will introduce stories and songs with the help of his good friends Bodhi Coyote and

Sounds innocuous enough, right, even progressive and environmentally smart. How sad then to read the 438 comments that followed (as of Thursday, April 8th at 11:00 AM) and discover the nearly unanimous opposition to the resolution. Blog comments are notorious for bile and mean spirit but these comments are over the top. The anger expressed in the comments seems split between the Supervisors approving a resolution that favors one diet choice over another and anger that the Supervisors should pay attention to something as inconsequential as healthful eating. The point of Maxwell's resolution, environmental awareness seems to have escaped most of the commentators. Another puzzling fact: many of the nastier comments come from people living in places other than San Francisco.

Are we to conclude that plant-based diets are increasingly unpopular, or that liberty-loving citizens dislike the government recommending (even in an unenforceable resolution) any life-style policy, no matter how healthful? Where does the wisdom lie?

If you read Chinese and you have the patience,an interview I gave last October in Beijing has been published in Chinese Buddhism Online. The interview is here. The title of the article is "Rev. Heng Sure: A Propagator of Chinese Buddha Dharma in the West."

Remember the first time as a kid you heard the Golden Rule?Maybe it was your mom correcting you, or an uncle or grandparent teaching you a lesson. If you were like me, that "Do unto others..." hit a responsive chord deep inside. I recognized it as wisdom; without anybody's prompting, I knew that truth came from a deeper source than the daily chatter of conversation; further that recognition came from a well of wisdom inside me.

Later I learned the other statement of the Golden Rule, from the reverse: "Do not do unto others..." and heard that thirteen of the world's major organized religions, and wise elders on back porches everywhere, endorse the Golden Rule. Author Karen Armstrong suggests that the Chinese Sage Confucius (sixth Cent. BCE) may have been the first to state it in this form, "Never treat others as you would not want to be treated yourself."

Karen Armstrong writes that, "The Golden Rule requires that we use empathy -- moral imagination -- to
put ourselves in others' shoes. We should act toward them as we would
want them to act toward us. We should refuse, under any circumstance, to
carry out actions which would cause them harm."

A United Religions Initiative Co-operation Circle, based in Ethiopia has encouraged all good-hearted people to observe Golden Rule Day and it arrives tomorrow, April 5th! To find out more about Karen Armstrong's Charter For Compassion and the Golden Rule, click here. To read Wikipedia's resources on the Golden Rule click here. To download the beautiful poster (the one posted at the top of this page) with the Golden Rule in thirteen traditions, click here.

DescriptionIn a time of growing fragmentation, frustration and powerlessness, the human challenge is to ‘only connect.’ While most presume feminist thinking and Confucian teachings to be at odds with one another, each offers a vital reminder of the basics to human flourishing: to accord each and every person, regardless of status or gender, the dignity that comes naturally to an honored guest.

SpeakersMichael Nylan received her Ph.D. in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and is currently Professor of Chinese History at the University of California at Berkeley. She did advanced study at Cambridge University [Oriental Studies] and the Institute of Archaeology [Beijing]. Her many publications include: The Five “Confucian” Classics [2001] and Lives of Confucius [2010]. She is co-editor [with Andrew Plaks] of the Classics of Chinese Thoughttranslation series at the University of Washington Press.

Roger Ames is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii and was the Director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Hawaii for ten years. Professor Ames has been the Editor of Philosophy East and West since 1987 and has authored, edited and translated some 30 books. His teaching and research interests focus on comparative philosophy, the philosophy of culture, environmental philosophy, classical Confucianism and Taoism.

Henry Rosemont, Jr., is George B. and Wilma Reeves Distinguished Professor Emeritus at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and Visiting Scholar in Religious Studies at Brown University. He did postdoctoral studies in Linguistics [and politics] with Noam Chomsky at MIT and is Senior Consulting Professor at Fudan University. Recent works include: Rationality and Religious Experience [2001] and with Roger Ames, The Chinese Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing [2009].

What could be more normal and ordinary than family getting together, right? If, however, you haven't been with all your siblings under the same roof for 20 years, then the reunion becomes more significant. Certainly my mom felt the most joy - - having all her kids together in harmony means a lot to a mother. The picture is my mom, Debbie Metcalf, at age 86!